1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to removable chair covers, especially covers for outdoor chairs such as lounge chairs and boating chairs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Users of chairs deployed near bodies of water, chairs used after engaging in watersports or bathing, and chairs used in connection with spas and hot springs (collectively, “watersports environments”), often benefit from chair covers that absorb water or perspiration from a chair user's body. In this application, (1) “lounge chair” means a chair that has one or more horizontal (or near horizontal) planar members upon which a user can lie (typically supine or prostrate), and typically includes a back member that can lie flat or be inclined about a first hinge to support the back of a seated user, and may include a front member that can lie flat or be declined about a second hinge to support the legs of a user, (2) “boating chair” means a chair that has a shorter horizontal (or near horizontal) planar member on which a user sits, similar to that of a table chair, that has a fixed back, and optionally is collapsible, (3) “chair cover” means an textile, typically absorbent, disposed between the user of a chair and the surface of a chair, and which is removably attached to the chair, (4) “both types of chairs” means lounge chairs and boating chairs, collectively, and (5) “chair frame” means the structural elements of a chair, such as frames, cross-members, legs, and other elements that indirectly or directly support the weight of a chair user. Examples of lounge chairs are, inter alia, deck chairs, chaises longues, lawn chairs, and pool chairs. Examples of boating chairs are, inter alia, folding chairs, picnic chairs, card table chairs, and table chairs. Folding boating chairs typically have a chair back hinged to a chair seat, provide only one chair back position when in use, and lack a hinged chair foot. The forward part of a chair is that part anterior to a user in sitting position. The rear part of a chair is the part posterior to the user in a sitting position.
Many embodiments of lounge chairs have a rear hinge that permits a rear planar section (the chair back of the lounge chair, called herein the “back member” when referring to lounge chairs, and “chair back” when referring to both types of chairs) to be pivoted upward from horizontal to support a user's back and, in many lounge chair designs, the chair back is long enough to support a user's head. Some embodiments of lounge chairs have a forward hinge that permits a foot planar section (called herein the “chair foot”) to be pivoted downward from horizontal. Both types of chairs are typically constructed with wood, plastic, or metal frames; plastic and metal frame materials are typically L-shaped or hollow channel, e.g., extruded plastic or aluminum, and joined by fasteners, welding, adhesives, and other methods known in the art. Lounge chairs may provide detents for various angles of inclination of the back member and of declination of the chair foot. The portions, e.g., cross-members or interlaced members, of the chair back and chair seat (and chair foot, in the case of lounge chairs), i.e., the portions that support a user, of both types of chairs, especially those made with plastic or metal frames, are typically constructed with straight, interlaced, or interwoven bands of plastic or textile (collectively, and for convenience, “seating material”, even though “seating material” is technically a misnomer as to the chair back). “Chair head” means the upper, terminal portion of a chair back. The head and foot of a chair cover correspond, when the cover is fitted to a chair, to the rear and forward parts of the chair frame.
Both types of chairs can be fitted with a chair cover to minimize a user's discomfort from contact with the seating material and to absorb perspiration or water. Absorbent chair covers are preferred to towels placed on a chair, since chair covers remain in place despite wind and user movements. The means of attachment of chair covers to both types of chairs generally takes one of two approaches: (1) fasteners on the chair cover that mate with fasteners on the chair or fasteners on a corresponding portion of the chair cover wrapped around a frame member, and/or (2) pockets at the head and foot of the chair cover that envelope the rear and forward ends, respectively, of the chair frame. A long-standing and unsolved technical problem in chair cover design is to provide a means of attaching a single chair cover alternately (1) to a chair that has a section of frame and seating material protruding beyond the point of attachment of the front legs of the chair or equivalent substructure (i.e., protruding forward of the point of attachment of the front legs of the chair to the chair foot in the case of a lounge chair, and to the forward part of the chair seat in the case of a boating chair) and has a section of frame and seating material protruding beyond the point of attachment of the chair back to the rear chair legs (or equivalent substructure), and (2) to a chair that does not have a section of frame and seating material protruding beyond the point of attachment of the front legs of the chair or equivalent substructure (e.g., a lounge chair in which the front legs are attached to the forward end of the chair frame) and/or does not have a section of frame and seating material protruding beyond the point of attachment of the chair back (or protruding beyond the point of attachment of the chair back to the rear chair frame, in the case of a lounge chair with hinged back member) to the rear chair legs (or equivalent substructure). One possible equivalent substructure for chair legs is a sled-style base. Hereafter, all structures for elevating a chair above ground level, and for supporting the back of a lounge chair with a hinged back member, are called “legs”. For convenience, the support (usually pivoted) of a lounge chair back is included in the term “rear chair leg”. The “top” of the chair cover is the surface of the chair cover in contact with the user. The “bottom” of the chair cover is opposite the top surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,288 to Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,028 to Jones, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,353 to Goddard disclose a lounge chair cover that uses close-fitting, preformed pockets in the head and foot of the chair cover to fit over the protru ding forward and rear frame ends, respectively, of a lounge chair. The chair cover designs of Lee, Jones, and Goddard cannot be attached to a lounge chair that lacks frame ends protruding from the forward and rear points of attachment of the legs of the chair; the preformed pockets in the chair cover designs of Lee, Jones, and Goddard are blocked from enveloping the frame ends by the attachment of the chair legs to the ends of the frame. Many types of lounge chairs, particularly wooden and plastic lounge chairs, do not have frame ends protruding from the forward and rear points of attachment of the chair legs; in such designs, the attachment of the chair legs is to the very ends of the chair frame, and pre-formed pockets cannot be attached.
Ease and speed of removal of chair covers are a second set of technical problems in chair cover design. A resort hotel may have hundreds of chair covers in use at a time, all of which must be periodically, often daily, removed and laundered.
There is an unmet need for a chair cover that can be attached to both types of lounge chairs (i.e., lounge chairs that have chair frame protruding beyond the forward and rear points of attachment of the chair legs, and those that do not) and for a chair cover that can be attached to both types of boating chairs (i.e., boating chairs that have chair frame protruding beyond the forward and rear points of attachment of the chair legs, and those that do not), yet be easily and quickly removed.